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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26930911">Help writing a winged character</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingHelpAndTips/pseuds/WritingHelpAndTips'>WritingHelpAndTips</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Writing Help [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Writing Help - Fandom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Help with writing, Not related to any fanfiction but can be used to help improve writing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:42:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,866</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26930911</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingHelpAndTips/pseuds/WritingHelpAndTips</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Help with writing a better-winged character. This is my opinion so please do not get angry if I oppose your ideas.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Writing Help [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1965052</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Help writing a winged character</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Welcome! To clarify, this is not a story but a writing help for others on writing characters with wings. I hope it helps someone.</p><hr/><p>There are many different types of wings to choose from:</p><p><br/>When stories are written with winged characters, most instantly choose large, angel-like wings. These aren’t the only type of wings, however, and it may assist in creating a more unique character if different types of wings are used.<br/>If the story does call for more traditional wings then consider bird wings, such as:</p><p><br/>Vulture<br/>Turkey (It sounds odd but they do have a simplistic yet stunning appearance)<br/>Crane<br/>Swan<br/>Pidgeon<br/>Dove<br/>Robin<br/>Sparrow<br/>Peacock (Would this show someone to be vain and arrogant or that their personality is beautiful?)</p><p>If you truly wish to use a unique wing appearance then consider some of the following birds for possible colours (NOTE: The reader will probably not know about these stunning creatures so a description may be required alongside the name) :</p><p>Wilson’s Bird of Paradise<br/>Red-necked Tanager<br/>Spangled Cotinga<br/>Mandarin Duck<br/>Keel-billed Toucan<br/>Western Crowned Pigeon<br/>Lady Gouldian Finch<br/>Common Kingfisher</p><p><br/>These are just some of the colourful birds - for more examples try going to https://justbirding.com/most-colorful-birds/</p><p>However, there are many winged creatures besides birds that may express a characters personality better (For example the shelled wings of a ladybug acting to shield the person or dragonfly wings to show that a person could break easily but is gorgeous while intact?) For example:<br/>Small wings (Ladybird, moth, butterfly, bee/wasp, dragonfly)<br/>Bats<br/>Dragon (The character would probably have scales on their skin as well)<br/>Flying squirrel (Not really wings but could cause an interesting point for discrimination/prejudice)<br/>Flying fish (Again not really wings but they are interesting)</p><p>This is in no way telling you to shy away from big angle wings - I find them particularly useful when paired with an intimidating character who would be quite unsuited to fairy-like wings and too mysterious for earth animal wings - however, experiment with alternatives.</p><hr/><p>Know about how wings work on real animals:</p><p><br/>Unless the story contains some element of magic (I believe wings fall into the fantasy category personally but am always up for a good debate on it) then some knowledge of real wings will be required.<br/>If it is a bird:<br/>What kind of feathers are there? (See below)<br/>How easily do the feathers come loose? (Like a big bunch of hair)<br/>Do the wings moult? If so, how often and what effect will that have on the character and plotline? (Ip to you)<br/>What bones are there in the wings? (See below)<br/>How easy are the bones to break? (Just a bit stronger than your arm)<br/>Are the wings waterproof? (... are birds?)<br/>What joints are there? (See below)</p><p>To briefly summarise my basic understanding of a birds wings (As a student with no experience in biology):</p><p><span class="u"><strong>Types of feathers (7 groups)</strong></span><br/>There are 7 parts to the wings feathers. Take a wing in your mind and split it in half vertically, then into three rows horizontally, each new row twice as large as the one above. This gives you a rough idea of the location of the seven groups. If we take the Left-wing (Bird is facing away from you so you see it’s back).</p><p>In the top-left section is the Alula. These are tiny and I fail to see any way they could be used in a plotline other than an injury location<br/>In the middle-left section is the Primary coverts. These are possibly more personal as they are near the bone. <br/>In the bottom-left section is the Primaries. These allow a bird to fly but can also contain the most colour. It would not be unusual for a character with larger wings to collide into things with his primaries as they are the furthest away from the body.<br/>In the top-right section is the Marginal coverts. These could possibly be used as a spot for a massage or where a character may need help cleaning as they are right along the top of the wing, quite close to the body.<br/>In the middle-right section is the Secondary coverts. These are like the Primary coverts but are hidden away if the wing is folded back. These could also possibly contain more vibrant colours then primaries as they would not be subjected to as much wear.<br/>In the bottom-right section is the Secondaries. These are much like the Secondary coverts, except longer.<br/>The final section is the Scapulars. These are the feathers covering where the wing meets the body and to see them would require the person to either be shirtless or with very revealing clothing giving the sense these are private.</p><p><span class="u"><strong>Joints and bones</strong></span><br/>This is an area you probably don’t want to get too detailed in - who knows what a Phalanges is? Think of it in comparison to a human arm. There are a shoulder and elbow joint as well as a joint where our wrists are. Up to the ‘wrist joint,’ the names for the bones are the same as well. Imagine an extra pair of arms -with the joints working in the same direction ours do - but protruding from just inside your shoulder blades.<br/>That should also give you a good idea for the range of movement (Go on, stand up and flap your arms about - I know you want to now, even make a few bird noises, whatever you think they are)</p><p>These questions also help to flesh out a characters wings more and give you a more general understanding of how the wing will work. It also allows you to see possible advantages as well as drawbacks and limitations.</p><hr/><p><br/>Know that the audience will not have researched wings:</p><p><br/>Your audience is unlikely to know technical terms such as the one used to describe the feathers earlier, but the terms Primary, Secondary and Skin feathers may be more common. Primaries away from the body, Secondaries closer to the body and Skin feathers joining the wing to the back. It is not as accurate however may be more appropriate with a younger audience. <br/>Something I would not skip over however if descriptions of wings. It is of equal annoyance having to look up a term mid-battle scene as it is to finish a story and have no idea what the character’s wings looked like.<br/>Descriptions such as ‘large and imposing’ and ‘bat-like’ may be good in the start however that leaves a lot open to interpretation. This is not necessarily a bad thing, however, it may mean your vision of a character is not the same as the impression a reader gets.</p><p>For example:<br/>[Character name] turned to observe [gender] wings, studying their mousy brown colour and the crude way the feathers fell. </p><p>OR</p><p>They tumbled down [gender]’s back, sprawling about half a foot onto the floor. They arched to just above [gender] head, muscular and majestic. The tops were a pale baby blue colour, almost turquoise, but darkened gradually down to the tips, by which time the feathers were the darkest blue, almost indigo, like the sky at midnight. Streaks of metallic blue dashed vertically down the outer side of each feather, barely visible exept when they caught the light and seemed to glow every shade of blue and purple known to man and some never seen before. Silver streaks, so pale they were almost a shiny pearl colour, dashed through the sea of every colour of blue.</p><p>OR</p><p>[Gender] tentatively flapped them and to [gender] great surprise, [gender] was lifted about a yard off the ground. [Character Name]’s old wings were too weak even generate enough wind to shift paper, let alone carry such a body as [gender]’s into the air.</p><p>These descriptions are from TealAlex (GoldenTealPanther) on AO3 in their book What do you hide?. I have asked for permission before using these altered extracts and been informed the story has been given up so anyone who wishes to use these descriptions is more than welcome to.<br/>These descriptions are a bit long-winded - especially the middle one - however small comparisons, like describing something as ‘the same colour as [name]’s wings’ or ‘like [name]’s wings’ allows an easy way to slip in a bit of description.</p><hr/><p> </p><p>Ensure wings are written about throughout the story:</p><p>There is nothing more surprising then, when, at the climax of the story in a big battle the main character is thrown off a roof… and they suddenly sprout wings and fly off safe and sound.<br/>If a character has wings then unless the wings can be retracted into their back and completely hidden away, it will be a fundamental part of their life. For example:<br/>How would the world around your character be adapted to make it easier to live with wings? The existence of wings would mean everyday tasks such as moving around, sitting and even getting dressed would be affected. </p><p>For an understanding of how tasks like sitting are affected, try this quick task:<br/>Hold your arms out straight in front of you, palms down<br/>Form your hands into fists by only moving your fingers and thumb<br/>Take these fists and move them to your back - somewhere about the middle of the ribcage - keeping the backs of your hand against your back and palm facing out.<br/>Try to lean back against a wall with two large lumps on your back - it’s not as easy as you might think!</p><p>Does the entire world have wings, or is it just your particular character?</p><p>If the whole world has wings then consider the following:<br/>What has to be enlarged (Doors, elevators, chairs, beds, offices, classrooms, houses ext)<br/>What kinds of new jobs could exist (Wing cleaners, flight trainer, wing racing athlete, air traffic ext)<br/>Is there any prejudice (Do certain wings mean something)<br/>What can wings express:<br/>The list goes on but it can be summarised to: wings will affect every part of someones live.</p><hr/><p> </p><p>What can wings express:</p><p>Find a way to use wings to show how a character if feeling - they are like an extra limb.<br/>Are the wings trembling and tucked away as far as possible? Probably scared and trying to act as unintimidating as they can. What are they scared of? Why?<br/>Are the wings fully spread out and puffed out? Probably trying to intimidate.</p><p>If a character is nervous, try using words and phrases such as:<br/>Twitch<br/>Flutter<br/>Ripple<br/>Fold tightly<br/>Fidget<br/>Flap</p><p>If they are angry, try: <br/>Flare <br/>Bristle<br/>Fluff up<br/>Ripple<br/>Beat<br/>Raise up<br/>Snap open</p><p>If the character is happy, the following may be good:<br/>Flutter<br/>Curl up<br/>Ripple<br/>Wave<br/>Flap</p><p>Wings could be used to fight, try these during a fight: <br/>Bludgeon<br/>Smack<br/>Bat<br/>Clout<br/>Whack<br/>Kick someone’s legs out from under them<br/>Snap someone's neck <br/>Slice<br/>Hit<br/>Thunder</p><hr/><p>Thank you for reading this and I hope someone found it helpful.</p><p><br/>If anyone would like my opinion on any matter, help bouncing ideas around or just need someone to talk to, try the following emails and websites:</p><p>robynacepheonyx@gmail.com  - This is for any matter related to writing.<br/>https://writinghelpandtips.wixsite.com/writinghelpandtips - This is my website</p>
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